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about discovery, she almost decided
to dart out of hiding and slip into the back of the lorry, hoping
she’d make it before anyone noticed her. But the second vehicle was
being directed into position for unloading now, and there were too
many people with far too many lanterns glowing in the area.
    “ Back the way we came,”
Amaranthe whispered out of the side of her mouth.
“Slowly.”
    With Books leading this time, they eased
back toward the far side of the building.
    “ Now where?” he asked when
they reached the corner.
    “ Out into the field.”
Amaranthe pointed diagonally away from the building and away from
the lorry. “We’ll go out there and angle around to the road. We’ll
have to catch one of the lorries as it’s driving away.”
    “ Jump onto the back of a
moving vehicle?” Books asked. “That sounds perilous.”
    “ We’ve been doing worse on
the train all week. It’ll be easy.”
    Easy might be an optimistic word, but Amaranthe had to sound
confident in front of her team. Speaking of her team, where was Sicarius? Had he
already slipped into one of the lorries?
    After waiting another moment to see if he
would appear, Amaranthe said, “This way.”
    She led the way into the field before
circling toward the road. She wished she could find a drainage
ditch or a small depression that would hide them, but nothing other
than the harvested rows presented itself. They would have to drop
to their bellies when the lorries passed and hope nobody with keen
eyes was watching the sides of the road.
    Amaranthe knelt to wait on the final stages
of the loading. When Books sank down beside her, she asked, “Any
idea where we are?”
    “ Besides in a cold, dark
field?”
    “ Yes.”
    “ There are a couple of
possibilities for an abandoned railway stub in Agricultural
District...” Books peered toward the mountains. “Is this
Three?”
    “ That’s what Sicarius
said.”
    “ Ah, then we’re within
fifty miles north or south of the byway we took into the mountains
last spring. This might be the old Archcrest Plantation. Several
warrior-caste landowners with timber or agricultural properties had
railway stubs run onto their property when the lines were first
being built last century. The last Archcrest heir died in the
Western Sea Conflict a generation ago, and the land reverted to the
empire until such time that a distinguished soldier earns entry
into the warrior caste. This being rather fertile land so close to
the capital, though, it’s being reserved for someone extremely
noteworthy.” Books craned his neck, peering in all sorts of
directions now. “I wonder if the old Archcrest manor is still
around. Did you know that family’s history goes all the way back to
the Battle of Aquenerfarus when the empire routed the native
civilization by the lake? The history books pretend they were
primitive clans, but—”
    Amaranthe cleared her throat as loudly as
she dared. “So, your answer is, ‘Yes, we’re probably on the
Archcrest Plantation.’”
    “ Er, correct.”
    The workers raised the gate on the second
lorry and dropped the flap, apparently finished unloading cargo. To
Amaranthe’s surprise, the men who had been at the depot when the
train first rolled in grabbed weapons and rucksacks and climbed
into the rail car. Eight men in all. The last one pulled the
rolling door shut from within.
    “ That might not be good,”
Amaranthe whispered.
    “ Let’s hope they stay in
that car and that the others are able to avoid them,” Books
said.
    “ Let’s hope they’re smart enough to avoid
them.” Amaranthe knew Basilard would not be a problem, but Akstyr
did have a tendency to make reckless choices now and then, and
Maldynado would probably smirk and let him.
    “ Would you be?” Books
asked.
    Amaranthe frowned at him.
    “ I simply meant that you’d
probably want to spy on them for information,” Books said. “Stroll
in and chat with them perhaps.”
    “ Oh, please, I haven’t done
anything